Calaking equipment



CALKING EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 6, 1959 IJLd r BY l ,IMJ ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 19, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CALKING EQUIPMENT Robert W. Thompson, Flushing, N. Y.

i Application December 6, 1939, Serial No. 307,756

Claims.

The invention is an improved machine for filling calking-guns such as are used for applying -calking composition to the junctions between masonry building walls and the metal trim for protecting the crevice against theentry of moisture, and for other lling purposes. Since on any given calkng job there are many guns to be repeatedly filled, it is important that the machine used for that purpose shall operate quickly and easily and on a group of guns, and shall fill each solid with the calking paste without, imprisoning air in the mass of paste inside the gun. Such air pockets in the paste greatly interfere with the work of calking since the air is under pressure and expands as it emerges from the gun nozzle, blowing the paste ahead of it so as to interrupt the continuity of the ribbon that is laid on the seam. For practical use such filling machines are required also to be easily transportable as from one job to another and hence to be light in weight and easily set up for use and easily filled with paste. The filling machine constituting this invention meets all these practical requirements in a high degree and aiords an exceptionally rapid means of recharging calking guns.

i The drawing illustrates themachine in its preferred form, Fig. 1 being a side elevation with parts in section, Fig. 2 a top plan with parts in section, Fig. 3 a cross section on line III- III of Fig. 1 and Fig. 4 a sectional detail of the press plunger.

'I'he `calking paste is placed in the cylindrical receptacle I which is also the base of the machine being adapted to rest by its bottom on the ground or floor and thereby provide a stable support for the machine, no supporting legs of any kind being used or desirable. The calking material as will be understood is an extremely sticky paste of about the consistency of soft putty. Being very viscous, it does not flow except extremely slowly. It is an important characteristic ofthis invention that the paste receptacle is wide enough, say not less than about inches in di. ameter, which will not only provide a stable sup' port on the ground or platform, as just stated, but also allow this sticky paste to be packed down solidly into it, as by the use of a trowel or the like. If it were of less diameter, it would be diiiicult if not impossible, to ll it without imprisoning air in the mass, because the troweling process necessarily requires a wiping action or cross-stroke for which there would not be room in a narrower receptacle. It will be understood post 2 and removably engaged to the post 3.

rhese posts are desirably hollow for the sake of lightness and are conveniently made by welding together the flange edges of two equal channel sections as indicated in Fig. 3. The swivelled joint is formed on the post 2 by welding in the upper end of one of the channels thereof a block 4 in which the pintle 5 is permanently Xed.

The crosshead I swings on this pintle beingconned thereon by the collars or nuts 6.

The other end of the cross-head 1, which is removably engaged to the other post 3, is for this purpose provided with an open-slotted end 8 adapted to hook under the head of a clamp bolt 9 screwed into a nut block ID welded to one of the channels of the post 3. When the crosshead has been brought under clamp bolt 9 and the latter tightened, it becomes firmly secured in its operating position and when the bolt is loosened the cross-head and all of its carried parts can be swung bodily to one side and clear of the receptacle. This exposes the receptacle so that the diflicult process of packing it with the paste is made as easy as possible. The clamp bolt is winged for easy manualoperation.

The cross-head carries integrally at its center the nut II of a power screw I2 which is provided at its top with a handle or wheel by which it can be manually operated, and it is step-journalled at its foot in a press plunger I4, being rotatably coniined to the latter in some suitable way sufficiently indicated in the present case by the set screw I3 in Fig. l. The traverse of the screw in its nut I I is sufficient to raise theplunger out of the receptacle so that it can then be carried to one side of the latter by the swinging cross-head away from post 3.

The press plunger I4 is composed in the present case, and preferably7 of a body part (I4) of wood bolted between upper and lower metallic facing plates I5 and I6 and braced by a top cleat Il (Fig. 3) and it is provided around its periphery with a leather gasket I8 so designed and mounted as to be capable of easy entrance into the flared mouth of the receptacle to fit the latter snugly. It is further provided with as many sockets to receive the gun cylinders or barrels 2l) as its available area will accommodate, and on both sides of the cross-head, such barrels normally extending upwards above the cross-head. These sockets are marked I9. The parts of them that are in the bottom plate I6 are threaded to receive the threaded ends of the gun barrels. The parts of them that are in the wood body are slightly wider than the threaded parts and form soft-surfaced vestibules for the latter adapted to guide the threaded ends of the gun barrels, without marring them, into proper registry with the threaded holes so that the barrels, hastily thrust into these sockets, can be screwed home without risk of crossing the threads and thereby mutilating them. The vestibule parts of these sockets also form a desirable lateral suport for the gun barrels to brace them against over-straining their threads from any lateral forces accidentally acting upon their upwardly extending ends. It will be apparent that by this construction the press plunger which is one of the pressure faces of the cylinder is adapted to have the gun barrels at tached to it with great expedition and without any injury to the ythreads of either the guns or theY machine under the rigors of practical use. Because of the multiplicity of sockets and the unrestricted passageways formed by them, lthe power required for piunger'operation is Vreduced to such extent as to bring the action within the range of lightweight, easily portable and hand operated equipment. This advantage derives from the fact that lateral ow of the paste in the'freceptacle isminimized. The column of paste underlying each Ysocket moves more or less bodily into the respective gunbarrels attached thereto, and only such paste as underlies the spaces between sockets is required to flow laterally in order to reach and enter the socket. This is important since the viscosity of calking paste is such that if one or only a few sockets were provided the lateral flow thereto would require very strong Vand reinforced machinery to produce the required movement, thereby destroying the portability of the unit.

The gun barrels, it willbe understood, are ordinarily about 21A in. in diameter and 3 or 4 feet long and, in the machine shown. in the draw-V ing, the plunger accommodates of them. They are ordinarily pneumatically operated. When empty barrels have been screwed into-all of the holes vthe operation of the hand wheel forces the plunger and all its barrels downwardly, into the receptacle, thereby extruding the calking paste in the receptacle upwardlyinto them. By Viirst starting'the plungerslightly downward so as partly to All the threaded holes or sockets .before inserting the gun barrels, it is easily possible to avoid trapping air within the barrels, that is to say, beneath the'pistons 2i thereof (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4) and such little amount of air as may inadvertently become caught will in any event be forced up to the top of the barrel as the upward `extrusion progresses and will not be imprisoned in the mass of paste in the gun to produce trouble. The guns have applicator nozzles (not shown) which are screwed onto their threaded ends when they are lled and removed. These same threads are preferably used to attach the gun barrels in the plunger and in this connection it will be noted that when the Vbarrelsarescrewed into the sockets there is no restriction to the passage of the paste into the barrel, the socket outlet being as wide as the barrel.

As full barrels are vtaken from the plunger, empty ones can be inserted in their places and when a sufiicient number of empties has been inserted they can be filled in the same manner by further advancing the plunger. However, as the power required to iill only one empty is excesive, the operator will not attempt advancing the plunger until a collection of them has been accumulated and inserted in the sockets, under which condition the plunger-screw, or hand wheel, may be easily operated.

The press plunger is desirably also provided with a pair of guide rods 22 rigidly bolted therein which slide in the bosses 24 of the cross-head and keep the plunger from turning with the screw and the barrels therein from striking the crosshead. Y

I claim:

l. A calking gun filling machine comprising, a calking paste receiving receptacle, a press plunger working in such receptacle, means to cause the plunger to exert pressure on the paste in such receptacle, one of the pressure faces in contact with the paste being formed with a plurality of sockets adapted forl detachable connection to empty calking gun barrels, each barrel-receiving socket providing an unrestricted outlet for the paste into the barrel, 'of substantially `barrel diameter, and being so close together that upon actuation Vof the plunger the relative movement of paste intoV the barrels is largely in the direction of the Vaxes of the sockets and lateral paste ow within the receptacle is minimized.

2. A calking gun filling machine comprising,

parts which in their assembly form a portableV machine adapted to be'moved about on the job and including a paste receiving receptacle of cylindrical form having a diameter adapting it to be lled solid with calking paste,fsaid paste receiving cylinder .being adapted to rest by its own bottom on the oor without legs or stabilizing bottom fasteners, a press plunger working in such receptacle, a screw for carrying said press plunger, a crosshead for supporting said screw, a post on said cylinder, said crosshead being mounted for swinging movement on said post, said press plunger being provided with gun barrelreceiving sockets on .both sides of said crosshead, each such barrel receiving socket providing an entrance for paste into the barrel attached thereto, which entrance is substantially of the same shape and cross area as the gun barrel connected thereto. Y

3.A calking-gun filling-machine as denedrin claim 1 in which the barrel-receiving sockets` are formed in the press plunger and extend upwardly therefrom.

4. A calking-gun filling-machine as defined in claim lin which the plunger is carried on ,a swinging cross-head and formed with the barrelreceivng sockets adapted to support suchV barrels extending upwards' on both sides of such crosshead.

5. A calking-gun filling-machine as definedV in claim 1 in ,which the gun-barrel-receiving sockets are vestibuled with soft material, like wood, adapted `toavoid injury to the inserted barrels.

ROBERT W. THOMPSON. 

